American Christians: Open your eyes!

There is a special place in hell reserved for those who do evil in the name of God. The Christian right in this country honestly believe it is their duty to bring about the end of days, and hasten the return of Jesus. They have the ear of those in the highest levels of power, and their influence in policy decisions is undeniable. This greatly troubles me.

On the surface, and obviously to the delight of millions of Americans, George Bush is a Christian, a God fearing, bible thumping born again Christian. But Christians who actually follow Jesus sense something is deeply wrong.

Lest I be called a terrorist supporting liberal, let me state unequivocally that I distain violence in the name of God, whether the perpetrators be Muslim or Christian extremists. “Because God told me to” is never a legitimate justification for killing. This applies to Muslim extremists, Palestinian suicide bombers, and heads of state alike. Nor do I buy into the liberal secular extremism of abortion on demand, increased size and influence of government, and elitist disregard for the middle class. I try to follow Jesus.

Jesus celebrated a culture of life. His ministry and his words pointed to an unceasing respect and dignity of every human life. His overriding point was that God is in every human being, and that our true relationship with God the father is through other people. Rather than viewing God as an almighty judge high in the sky, he taught that God was intimately entwined in our everyday lives through our interactions with others. In other words, there can be no divorcing of God from man, and there is no way to profess a love for God without loving one’s neighbor. Conversely, how we treat others is how we treat God. This is the crux of true Christianity. Unfortunately, this point is irrelevant to the Christian right.

In their terribly misguided mission of service to God, they precipitate the very culture of death they claim to abhor. First, they worship and deify Israel, their idol. They view the nation of Israel as the key to fulfillment of biblical end times. In their warped perspective, Israel holds holy esteem, and must be allowed to conduct its affairs beyond all rational criticism. The result is justification by the Christian right of any and all of Israel’s actions, regardless of the human toll. Any criticism of Israel’s behavior is met with cries of anti-Semitism. The result is that our current administration, under the Svengali hold of both AIPAC and American evangelical leaders, puts Israel’s interests above American interests. And they discount the repeated warnings of hundreds of prominent Jewish Rabbis who view modern Israel as not the biblical Israel, but a Zionist, satanic nightmare.

Their perverted view of life rightfully distains abortion, but they have no qualms about the death penalty. In their mission to bring freedom to nations, they accept the suffering and slaughter of millions of innocent people because they are of different nationalities and faiths. They foment hatred of dispossessed, innocent Palestinians by their blind allegiance to Israel. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me” must not have been included in their bible.

The apocalyptic narcissism of American evangelical leaders and their misguided zeal to isolate Israel, thus fulfilling the end-times prophecies, blinds them to geopolitical truth. These leaders, and their neoconservative political power broker partners, accepted and promoted lie after lie to sell the Iraq invasion to the American public. Good hearted, but misinformed, Americans swallowed these lies, thinking they were being patriotic Christians by supporting their “Christian” president.

Now Iran is in their crosshairs, and the familiar marketing campaign has begun. Now is the time for American Christians to wake up, educate themselves, and resist the next campaign of lies. Do not be afraid of being branded a liberal or anti-American. Political labels and “unpatriotic” branding are favorite tactics of neoconservative narcissists; ignore them and instead live your faith. Real patriotism means speaking difficult truth to power, and real faith means worshiping God and helping bring dignity to all of God’s children. If your faith is too easy and comfortable, you’re not following Jesus. Chose to follow Jesus.

God will not be manipulated like some pawn on a geopolitical chessboard.

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